10 June 2010

Step through the portals

Standing at the Partners statue, the crossroads of the Magic Kingdom, guests are at the heart of Walt Disney’s ingenious design element, the Hub. The Hub and Spoke allowed for guest to move between lands, back and forth, from a central point. What most guests don’t realize is that the Hub is completely surrounded by water, so, in order to move from one land to another they must cross a bridge. These bridges are as unique as the lands they represent, so let’s go ahead and start the tour.

UPDATE:Per a reader request, the photographs are in a clock-wise ordering of the bridges starting at Main Street U.S.A. In order, the bridges are from Main Street U.S.A. to the Hub, Crystal Palace to Hub/Adventureland, Hub to Adventureland, Hub/Aventureland to Liberty Square, Hub to Liberty Square, Hub to Fantasyland (a la Cinderella Castle), Hub to Fanatasyland/Tomorrowland, and Hub to Tomorrowland.

Alena, these are from the Magic Kingdom. The design of the park is what is called a Hub-and-Spoke, which means that there is a central point (the hub) and from which all of the lands (spokes) radiate. In the case of the Magic Kingdom the hub is surrounded by a moat of sorts, and these are the bridges that connect the hub to the various lands (Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, etc.).